Germany to facilitate visa procedures for Turkish businesspeople

A document sent from Germany to members of the Turkish-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DTR-IHK) indicates that the Turkish companies making a minimum of 50 visa applications a month would be involved in a privileged practice to benefit from long-term visas as from January 1, 2013. Touching on the issue, Chairman of DTR-IHK Metin Sagmanli said that Germany was set to improve its commercial ties with many countries, including Turkey. "The businesspeople have been facing problems with Germany regarding visa procedures. In order to solve the problem, German business circles and officials from the German Interior Ministry have held various meetings. The facility to be provided for businesspeople in terms of visa applications for two years and more will be the most important one. Besides, the number of required documents will be decreased," Sagmanli said. Emphasizing the importance of trade volume between Turkey and Germany, Sagmanli said that the trade volume between the two countries was worth 30 billion Euros and that the number of German companies operating in Turkey has surpassed 5,000.